As mentioned in the my other post, further down the post tree, IANAL, however, I am a financial crimes investigator at the local Sheriff's Office. I feel like there is a huge misconception about identity theft. Using someone else's credit card at a gas station without that person's permission, is not ID theft, it's fraudulent use of a credit card.
Actual ID theft is almost exclusively done through the use of the victim's social security number. SSN's, contrary to their original "intent," are serial numbers for US citizens. If you do not believe this, try to go to college, get a loan, get a credit card, etc.
To my knowledge, you can't steal someone's ID without having or getting their SSN. You still need a few more nuggets of information, easily found on various websites around the net, but you can actually make do without that information. You CANNOT, however, make do without an SSN. As far as I can tell, in the US, it is impossible to get credit from any company without an SSN.
I think account numbers are dangerous because it's possible to derive an SSN from that. Addresses and such are also dangerous, because it makes up part of the information that is required to commit ID theft. Furthermore, account numbers can be used in all kinds of fraudulent activity. All you need is the routing number off of a check, and a check number to rack up some massive bills on someones account. As it has been pointed out in another post, most criminals do not physically have possession of the credit card, just the number.
I think it is incumbent upon any company with identifying information, to take due dilligence in protecting that information, be it address, phone numbers, etc.
To address the idea that financial institutions have verification processes in place, I say, we need more. I cannot place the blame on the institutions et al. because most of that information is leaked through social engineering. Believe it or not, that still exists.
From my experience, once a criminal has a victim's SSN, they go on a rampage, opening as many accounts as possible via telephone, or in a store. Most of the time, when a victim comes to me with an ID theft case, they believe there is only one account opened fraudulently. I direct the victim to check their credit report, and they find 5 or 6 fraudulent accounts, to their surprise.
My advice? Protect that SSN at all costs, and check your credit report at LEAST once a year, twice a year if you can. It only costs about $10 US, so why not? Believe me when I say, $10 is worth it to detect ID theft, because once it happens, it is a BEAR to try to get it taken care of.
IANAL, however, I am a financial crimes investigator for the local Sheriff's Office. Identity theft, at its root, is not using someone elses credit card against their will, that is "fraudulent use of a credit card." Identity theft in the Florida statutes, is called "fraudulent use of personal identification." It more or less means name, date of birth, ssn, and any other biographical/biometrical information that can be used to determine your identity from another person. That being said, I think the original post is aimed at actual fraudulent use of personal ID, or as it is listed on my case files "FUPID" The original poster is correct in asserting that without the SSN, your identity most likely will not be stolen. It is very difficult to open any type of credit account without the SSN, because that is how the credit reporting companies list you. Contrary to its original "intent" the SSN has become a serial number for US citizens. If you don't believe me, try to enroll in college, or get a credit card, or loan, or anything else. Since this thread is about credit cards, I will touch on that. The parent is correct, in that most credit card fraud happens without the suspect in actual physical possession of the card. 90% of the cases that I work involve a victim that still has possession of the card. They have been victimized by either someone digging through the trash to get their statements, or using their card at an unsecure (pr0n) site, or by some other type of mishandling of the card. Once in awhile, I will get a case where the victim did not use the card in an insecure manner, and I have no clue how the suspect got the information. Furthermore, contrary to our popular belief here at Slashdot, solving a fraudulent use of credit card case is extremely difficult, and proving it in court is that much more difficult. Believe me when I say, the criminals of this world have found a niche here, and they know it, that is why this crime is so rampant. If you don't think this crime is rampant, wake up, and get out of your dream world. While the parent is correct in his assertion that your signature on the card is only an agreement to the usage of the card, I would argue that writing "see ID" on the back is an added security feature, and can't hurt. There are cases here where someone has taken a card, and used it all over God's creation. While we would love to blame the merchants for not taking the proper security measures, that doesn't get the victim his/her money back. So, in order to try to avert that problem in my personal life, the back of my credit card reads, "see ID." I will post my thoughts on actual identity theft will appear in another more appropriate thread.
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As mentioned in the my other post, further down the post tree, IANAL, however, I am a financial crimes investigator at the local Sheriff's Office. I feel like there is a huge misconception about identity theft. Using someone else's credit card at a gas station without that person's permission, is not ID theft, it's fraudulent use of a credit card. Actual ID theft is almost exclusively done through the use of the victim's social security number. SSN's, contrary to their original "intent," are serial numbers for US citizens. If you do not believe this, try to go to college, get a loan, get a credit card, etc. To my knowledge, you can't steal someone's ID without having or getting their SSN. You still need a few more nuggets of information, easily found on various websites around the net, but you can actually make do without that information. You CANNOT, however, make do without an SSN. As far as I can tell, in the US, it is impossible to get credit from any company without an SSN. I think account numbers are dangerous because it's possible to derive an SSN from that. Addresses and such are also dangerous, because it makes up part of the information that is required to commit ID theft. Furthermore, account numbers can be used in all kinds of fraudulent activity. All you need is the routing number off of a check, and a check number to rack up some massive bills on someones account. As it has been pointed out in another post, most criminals do not physically have possession of the credit card, just the number. I think it is incumbent upon any company with identifying information, to take due dilligence in protecting that information, be it address, phone numbers, etc. To address the idea that financial institutions have verification processes in place, I say, we need more. I cannot place the blame on the institutions et al. because most of that information is leaked through social engineering. Believe it or not, that still exists. From my experience, once a criminal has a victim's SSN, they go on a rampage, opening as many accounts as possible via telephone, or in a store. Most of the time, when a victim comes to me with an ID theft case, they believe there is only one account opened fraudulently. I direct the victim to check their credit report, and they find 5 or 6 fraudulent accounts, to their surprise. My advice? Protect that SSN at all costs, and check your credit report at LEAST once a year, twice a year if you can. It only costs about $10 US, so why not? Believe me when I say, $10 is worth it to detect ID theft, because once it happens, it is a BEAR to try to get it taken care of.
IANAL, however, I am a financial crimes investigator for the local Sheriff's Office. Identity theft, at its root, is not using someone elses credit card against their will, that is "fraudulent use of a credit card." Identity theft in the Florida statutes, is called "fraudulent use of personal identification." It more or less means name, date of birth, ssn, and any other biographical/biometrical information that can be used to determine your identity from another person.
That being said, I think the original post is aimed at actual fraudulent use of personal ID, or as it is listed on my case files "FUPID" The original poster is correct in asserting that without the SSN, your identity most likely will not be stolen. It is very difficult to open any type of credit account without the SSN, because that is how the credit reporting companies list you. Contrary to its original "intent" the SSN has become a serial number for US citizens. If you don't believe me, try to enroll in college, or get a credit card, or loan, or anything else.
Since this thread is about credit cards, I will touch on that. The parent is correct, in that most credit card fraud happens without the suspect in actual physical possession of the card. 90% of the cases that I work involve a victim that still has possession of the card. They have been victimized by either someone digging through the trash to get their statements, or using their card at an unsecure (pr0n) site, or by some other type of mishandling of the card. Once in awhile, I will get a case where the victim did not use the card in an insecure manner, and I have no clue how the suspect got the information. Furthermore, contrary to our popular belief here at Slashdot, solving a fraudulent use of credit card case is extremely difficult, and proving it in court is that much more difficult. Believe me when I say, the criminals of this world have found a niche here, and they know it, that is why this crime is so rampant. If you don't think this crime is rampant, wake up, and get out of your dream world.
While the parent is correct in his assertion that your signature on the card is only an agreement to the usage of the card, I would argue that writing "see ID" on the back is an added security feature, and can't hurt. There are cases here where someone has taken a card, and used it all over God's creation. While we would love to blame the merchants for not taking the proper security measures, that doesn't get the victim his/her money back. So, in order to try to avert that problem in my personal life, the back of my credit card reads, "see ID."
I will post my thoughts on actual identity theft will appear in another more appropriate thread.